While we live in eastern North Carolina (the Atlantic Ocean is several hundred yards South of us) the coast of our state has an eclectic citizenry.   Lots of retirees, northern brothers,  and an influx of in-state folks.  Lots of folks moving our way.   The oldest and most unique locals are the “hoi toiders” ( or high tiders ).   These “down easterners”  refer to Kinston, N.C.  as the west.    They have their own dialect and vocabulary. “Dit-dotters” are tourists who come and go back.  “Ding-batters” come and, alas, stay.   Local lingo contends ‘…my lord, honey, they must leave their brains on the other ” soide ” ( side ) of the bridges”

We are also near Camp Lejeune or the Marine Base.   Having worked in two colleges my  entire 40 work years, some of my friends call me “Coach”, or sometimes “Professor”.  I  once asked a friend who had moved to Chapel Hill,  N.C.  how they liked it?   He replied “…not much—if you don’t have a PH.D.  or have a dozen books published,  most of them won’t have anything to do with you.   Some have contended the worst thing about being rich was you had to deal with other rich people.   My coaching colleagues put too much value on winning, perhaps.  Down here status often depends on military rank, noted careers.   I guess on Wall Street and in a lot  America,  it’s is money that does the talking.

While a bumper sticker in the piedmont might read ” MY CHILD IS  AN HONOR STUDENT”,  down here you could just as well see “MY BOY CAN WHIP THE CRAP OUT OF YOU HONOR STUDENT”.

I am not inclined to deny or resent “Coach”,  or having taught for a long time.  Nor do I get out of sorts at “here comes the (“liberal”, or “Obama”, or “the college man”, etc.).   I try not to respond , much as my oldest Son advised.   Last week a quote got my attention:   “The worst argument against Democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter”  (Churchill?).   And  “…if you think education is expensive,  try ignorance.” If one thinks “liberal”  (freedom) is a bad word,  and the misspent  and mismanaged money on war in this decade has been “conservative” —why argue?

So—when one got over the line recently (” Coach, you have spent too much time around colleges”)  it just blurted out of me.   I asked him if he had any any grandchildren?  OH YES.  Tell me about them, I continued.  I got the usual “my goose is a swan” answers one gets from any grandparent .  Goes  somewhat like these cliches:  ” He reads two grade levels above his class. ” Or, ” She makes all A’s! “.   “I don’t know where he gets it—must be his Mother. ”  And others we all know, if we ask any grandparent.   Then he took a breath.

Quickly  I pointed out that I had never heard any of  THESE comments from a parent or grandparent:   “You know he is the dumbest little son of a gun in his class!”   or, “She certainly never made an A!” or, “…if he flunks the eight grade one more time he’ll be 16, and I think I HAVE GOT HIM TALKED INTO QUITTING FOR GOOD!’ or, ” maybe the 4th grade will be shoe-tying and potty-trained year.

He looked at me funny but  didn’t say anything.  I  don’t know whether he got it or not.

“Call your next case”.   Chub Seawell,  Carthage, N.C. —1955

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In the early part of the last century the North Carolina legislature passed a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in the public schools. Asked about this action a young Sam Erwin concluded that the one good thing about this action is that it “…absolves the monkeys of the jungle of any responsibility for the behavior of the human race in general, and the North Carolina Legislature in particular.”   If the Republicans get by with their intentions in Raleigh, it won’t be the News and Observers fault ( “…lot of water under the bridge, lot of other stuff too. Don’t get up gentlemen, I’m only passing through” ( THINGS HAVE CHANGED–BOB DYLAN).   Lots of issues.   I recently expressed my concerns about education and what’s going on with teachers.   A retired highway patrolman said he had carried a gun his whole career, and his profession had often been neglected compared to N.C.teachers.    I don’t question that profession and all they do and risk. Firemen, Policemen, and the Military.   I did note later that he had retired at age 52   And that perhaps soon, wise teachers may want to carry a weapon also.   School teachers have long been underpaid.   Add integration and discipline problems and many good teachers, coaches, and administrators have abandoned education.   If we continue to whittle away at this rate (abandoning tenure, cutting out aides, larger class sizes, no reward for increased education, no scholarships for talented future in-state teachers, larger classroom sizes, undermining the values of public schools and funding for them, etc.), who will fill the slots? Think for a minute. Fire Donald and hire Daffy? Who do you hire, Mr. Superintendent, or N.C.legislator, when no competent people will take the jobs?   Haven’t we seen too many sorry people who gravitate to youngsters, if allowed.   Who takes a job no one else will have?   Aren’t some of the problems we have with tenure because we had to hire improperly vetted dregs.   How can the proposed changes not make things horribly worse!
The old school tennis coaches will remember when we had to referee our own matches.   Talk about a mess.    Finally they funded one official.   Often these people were retirees:   Nice people who were underpaid but wanted to help.   Pretty soon some of the young coaches who hadn’t witnessed matches minus a referee, took this as an opportunity to argue with these sometimes volunteers, or underpaid godsends    It wasn’t long before you couldn’t find an official.   And those you got didn’t know an “unforced error” from most first marriages.   It is time, North Carolina, to get up on your hind legs and stop this ruinous, dangerous bunch.   PS.   Two contemporary authors of note made comments that are related: 1. Pat Conroy from MY READING LIFE: “…if anyone knows a more important profession than teaching i wish they would let me know what it is before I die.”   And 2. From Malcolm Gladwell’s OUTLIERS: Paraphrasing Mr. Gladwell’s “outlier” concerning education, he contends that the most important factor in education is that each individual child must have at an early age (pre-kindergarten) a loving person who reads to the child and conveys the importance of reading to that child.

James Michener wrote Sports in America in 1976.   He observed, then, that the United States is the only country that charges higher education with entertaining the public (via athletic programs).   Surely education versus capitalism (or “the market”) presents a paradox for colleges and universities.   This conundrum has existed for more than a century and still we struggle with how to make it work reasonably.

Our local 2013 example of these problems was the highly publicized UNC-Chapel Hill bogus courses, used primarily for athletic eligibility.   Oddly, one of our national leaders for reform in athletics was UNC-CH former chancellor Dr. Bill Friday.  Dr. Friday, and the Knight Commission together had forewarned of the dangers of uncontrolled athletic programs.

What seems paradoxical, and sad, is that while we speak passionately of reform, we continue to yield to the dollar.

The freedom of the market seems very American.   I don’t doubt that Coach K is worth 9.7 million dollars annually for Duke University.   Quickly the Duke people would contest, “the university itself benefits by more than this amount plus the salary comes, in large portion, from outside the university coffers”.   While in this instance, that may be true, are others not forced the ante-up in a nuclear arms race-like spending war?   Associate head football coaches making 2 million?

Want to know where the less fortunate schools find such monies?   From the student body!   Are we not reaching a point of diminishing returns when college debt exceeds all national credit card debt?   When annual college/university costs exceed $70,000 per year, what sense does a “liberal arts” degree make?   Especially for those who have the current economic situation to guide their decisions.   There is a huge portion of the student body saying “Hey, I’m not interested in paying for athletic excess.   Community college a  more reasonable option? No sense in a liberal arts degree?   Forget unreasonable athletic schools, I need a job!”   Is uncontrolled athletic expense going to cost us liberal arts education and/or the valuable lessons of reasonable collegiate programs.

There are lots of ideas floating around:  Stipends for athletics?  AAU basketball influences?   High school “recruiting” that often eliminates any chance of good neighborhood teams winning…or even trying.

Ask any old-timer about stipends for athletics.   They’ll say, “No, they are getting a scholarship.” But how much is Johnny Football worth to Texas A&M?   How about Cam Newton and Auburn.   The stipend ($2000) was voted in by the NCAA.   Then voted out.   Would it not escalate to $20,000 soon and thus be affordable to the much discussed “Super 60” only?

One local decision scares me too: UNC-Wilmington just dropped 5 athletic programs.   They seemed to be 5 of their most successful programs, albeit “non-revenue” sports.   Often I am asked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) to write support letters to schools who are dropping collegiate tennis programs, or are about to.

What about proximity in college athletics?   Syracuse in the Atlantic Coast Conference?   Pittsburgh?   What happens to the “Big 4” rivalries?   Elon, my former employer, has opted for the Colonial Conference over the Southern Conference. Travel looks to me to be much more.   Who suffers from distance?   Those who can’t afford to fly, ie: the women and the “non-revenue” programs.   What happens to study time, eaten up by travel time?   Ask Campbell University’s  coaches, who just “came in from the cold!”   They were in a league with teams in 11 different states!   How is that a reasonable conference?   Maybe it’s just me, but I loved the “southerness” of the Southern Conference.   No need to fly anywhere. Believe me, with no TV revenue, and travel out the wazoo, these programs and people take big blows.

Higher education in the future needs some stout leaders.   Bob Dylan says, “Money doesn’t talk. It swears.”   Presidents and Chancellors and Athletic Directors can’t say “We didn’t know”,  anymore.   If they don’t know they are just as culpable.   It’s that big, and threatens the whole ball of wax.  There is a lot of fat in higher education.   From athletics, to faculty job loads, to sabbaticals, to minimal output by tenured  faculty, to excessive administrative  positions,  to phony academic courses and grades..

P.S.     On weather!    I am old enough to remember when college spring schedules ended at the end of May.    Now many schools end in mid April with conference playoffs coming  as early as the first or second weekend of the month.  Play was in April  and May with practice starting in March.   Now play is often in February and March, with practice in January.   March 1 now is about midseason.   This  spring in  North  Carolina there were very few contests played in warm, spring weather.

I coached 40 years in four different conferences:  Carolinas Conference, South Atlantic Conference,  Big South Conference, and  the Southern Conference.   Rarely did any of these coaches go north to schedule.   Almost  everyone’s schedule featured fine schools from the north coming south on “spring break”.   In the words of the old  Southern comedian, Dave Gardner, “…you ain’t never heard of anyone retiring to the north, have you?”

Baseball in Philadelphia in February or March?   New York,  Boston?   Teams from these areas would tell us “…this trip is the first time we have been  on a field.  Or outdoors.

Consider a couple of other points:  1. Certain sports played in extremely cold weather can cause bad injuries.   Pitchers and tennis players are examples.  2. “Spring Sports” teams aside,  travel in northern areas are much more apt to be more dangerous for all teams.   Ask veteran  basketball coaches  about late nights and bad weather in the dark.  Once you get above about Richmond, Va., it changes.   Forty years of  watching weather have proven that to me.

3. Vans, buses, and planes with loads of college kids are dangerous enough.  Add severe weather often experienced due north, to inexperienced, or young, or ambitious coaches and players, and a recipe for tragedy looms.

With the publicity about Lance Armstrong and the denial of Hall of Fame membership to Sosa, Bonds and Mcguire, perhaps it is time to dig in on the substance issue…1. Armstrong stated he would not have been selected if he refused to dope.  One potential pro baseball player told me the reason he was not moved up (management told him) was because he refused the “pack”, or steroid enhancement.  If this is the only was to advance then advancing may not be worth it.  It is certainly dangerous, and taking unfair advantage. “Cheaters never win” a passe axiom? 2 . In the “power sports” isn’t there an added danger in giving some parties strength, size, speed, injury recovery, frenzied mentality advantages etc?  E=1/2 m x v squared.  Or “energy equals one half mass times velocity squared” as proposed by O. Charles Olsen in “The Prevention of Football Injuries” in the 1970′  One football coach said the mothers were leading the charge against their kids playing some sports now. If these sports are worthwhile, and I believe strongly they are, shouldn’t they be played on ” a level (drug free) field”? 3. Who protects the 14year old (about age some are making the steroid decision) when parents either aren’t there, are ignorant of the issues, or sadly complicit in encouraging usage?  Is the “paste out of the tube”. Or is this a watershed moment requiring the parties that are in control to “step up”, to use a sports cliche?

In 1976 James Michener wrote SPORTS IN AMERICA. He made the statement then “…I might allow my child to play football, but I wouldn’t encourage him to play.” I asked this fall on this blog, won’t this be a critical year in football history? (FOOTBALL AT THE CROSSROADS). Seems like the year proved the point…Continued head injuries, lawsuits, dementia, suicides, pretty brutal stuff.. The game is brutal. Still many love the “lions vs the christians”. Many think the rules are unclear or limiting. My guess is another influence is on the forefront, similar to Michener’s. “Mommas don’t your boys grow up to be football players.” This is not new, yet making more sense. It bothers me however that the great life lessons of football may be lost to many. If the savage control the game, to hell with it. If there is a “…turning loose of the steering wheel” then wrecks will occur. And , as good people abandon the game a lot will be lost. Every time an Incorrigible is recruited, selected, hired, etc., a good kid will be eliminated, or cut, or not given a chance. same for coaches, administrators, owners, all the way up and down…Face it–there are people that aren’t capable of benefitting from the great life lessons of football, and all sports. They use the game only for self gain. Many become millionaires only to squander the money. Bankrupt in short order, having gained no worthwhile skills, and having done only damage to society…Once again, who plays is important. People must be screened on a person by person level. Race should play no part in who plays. It does seem true that the more white kids drop out, the more black kids will fill the slots. It seems logical that if we fill the slots with incorrigibles, albeit good players, we will eliminate a lot of great black kids, whose only chance may be sports. Save the game for kids who, having learned important life lessons through their only available avenue,i.e. sports, go on to worthwhile citizenry. And make rules that protect them.  Begin with perfomance enhancing drugs control.   Lance Armstrong said he would not have been accepted if  he had decline to use drugs.   If the top (pro sports) demands usuage,  the news will flow to the bottom (even children’s sports).   Hopefully parents will guard their kids,  but some have turned the blind eye or even encouraged the madness.   Sanity is the only hope…

One of the great coaches I ran into along the way was a competitor. Redlands University (California) was coached by Jim Verdieck. Jim was the best at winning I ran into, in any sport. And he was already a legend when my team made its 1970 trek to Rockhill Tennis Club in Kansas City, home of the NAIA Championships.

Verdieck was a strong willed football – tennis coach. His teams won 12 of 13 NAIA titles, starting about the mid-sixties. There was a “one-foreigner” rule in the NAIA early on, so battles pitting Texans against Floridians versus Californians were heated. The coaches were tough. Clarence Dyer of South Eastern Oklahoma coached in twenty-two straight tournaments, finishing 2nd to 4th of fifty teams or so, every year. He never won. Why? Verdieck and Redlands. Unlike the NCAA team format, the NAIA featured a single elimination, 256 draw men’s (and later women’s) tournament. The draw separated team members from early on meetings, but a #1 player could play a #4 guy on your team at any time. It was vicious, the draw could kill you. Pressure caused many seeded players to wilt. Endurance was the biggest factor. To win singles and doubles both, a player had to win 8 singles matches and 7 doubles. Fifteen matches in five days. And match #1 began at 7:30 AM. Early on, you played three singles matches the first day if you won. Tired puppies, and sore bones the next day.

The number one tough coaching trick was to get college kids to go to bed at 9 o’clock for a week. “Morning acclimatization” was crucial. You were up at 5:00 am, hitting to shake the cobwebs loose. My sidekick, Russell Rawlings and I would pound on the local McDonalds’ door, begging for egg McMuffins and juice for the players. They’d play at six different sites early on, so to get them up, fed, crapped, and distributed was hair-raising for a Robbins redneck. Russell helped immeasurably.

It was magic; 7-6 in the third set everywhere, hamburgers and ice cream from the Rockhill Grill, throngs of business men on their lunch hour-watching youngsters from all over. Mostly, they wanted to see Verdieck and his Redlands team. Doubles was great, particularly the Texans and Okies teams. They seemed a lot like us, but could play better. I began to pick up what Verdieck was doing, and watching various great players from all over. It was like popcorn going off. Later, as an old coach having moved up to Division I NCAA, I’d tried to tell the new ones how much fun the NAIA was. And how good.

It’s true, there were very weak players and teams there. I took some of them. A draw that pitted you against Donne, Nebraska or Cedaville, Ohio meant you at least had a chance. And every kid got to play, often 3 or 4 or 5 days. If you won you got to play again. Each match won counted a point for your team and the team with the most points won. One point could make the difference in your team finishing tied for 3rd in the nation, or being 6th. Kids played hard. They got to fly on a plane. There was a great banquet with good support from the NAIA staff, college volunteers, and the people of Kansas City. Our kids were taken in by our “honorary coaches,” a program that used volunteer townspeople to help out. Joanie and Bob Mullet drew our team, lucky for us.

Once you had hosted a team you could be reunited by choice at the next year’s tournament and my sidekick Russell had made note of a big hill near their house. Russell had been born with a hip problem, he couldn’t run on it and it limited his ability to exercise. This was one of life’s cruelties, as Russell really loved sports. His limitation caused him a weight problem and he was a big boy. Later, he did go from 320 pounds to 160 pounds, or “two good-sized Orientals,” he contended. One of my true joys was watching him conquer obesity. He did love to eat. As we exited one all-you-can-eat buffet, the Kansas City proprietor whispered to Russell, “Sir, it’s okay if you don’t come back.”

I was puzzled one year at the pre-tournament picnic the Mullets hosted at their home. After the meal, Russell asked Mr. Mullett if he could borrow his bicycle.

“Sure”, Bob said.
“And your station wagon?” asked Russell.
Puzzled, but courteous, Bob agreed again, “Sure.”
“Come on coach,” Russell enthused.

The hill was a constant decline for about three miles and Russell sent me and the station wagon down to the bottom. He then glided all the way down the winding road to me and the wagon. We put the bike in the back and drove back uphill to the Mulletts. It was his first long bike ride.

Soon after, sans about 150 pounds, he rode his bike from Wilson to Morehead City, one hundred plus miles.